


Behind every beautiful thing

by Infinity_on_high



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Bruce Banner Is a Good Bro, Crying, Depression, Everyone Needs A Hug, Fix-It, Gen, Heavy Angst, Hurt Thor (Marvel), Hurt/Comfort, Loki (Marvel) is a Good Bro, Panic Attacks, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Post-Canon Fix-It, Self-Hatred, Thor (Marvel) Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-08
Updated: 2018-10-25
Packaged: 2019-07-08 18:06:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15935567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Infinity_on_high/pseuds/Infinity_on_high
Summary: I won't ever say forever,I won't ever say it's true,Because maybe if I try to leave it all behind,I'll find my way back to you.





	1. Behind every beautiful thing

**Author's Note:**

> My take on how Thor dealt with the aftermath of the snap. Just letting ya know, this fic ain't a happy one until the end really, so if you want to cry right now, then you've come to the right place!! Honestly I made myself cry whilst writing this.

"Oh God.." Steve breathed out as he sat next to the dusted remains of his fallen friend. They had lost. The feeling of losing was foreign to Steve, failure isn't an outcome that they were used to. He layed his hand on the patch of dirt where Bucky had fallen and he lowered his head and shut his eyes, letting the grief wash over him completely, there was no point denying it, Thanos had won, Bucky was dead, half of their friends were dead, half of the universe was dead. The Avengers had lost.

Thor was standing a few feet away from where all of the remaining Avengers were gathered around the greyed corpse of Vision. He didn't look at them, any of them, he couldn't bare it. He looked down to the axe in his hand. The blade was still soaked in the mad titan's blood from where Thor had buried it in his chest mere moments ago. So close. No scratch that, he'd done it, he'd had his chance at revenge on Thanos for slaughtering half of his people and killing his brother right in front of him. He'd taken on the full force of a dying star to make the weapon designed to destroy the mad titan, he'd stabbed it into his chest, like Thanos did to Heimdall. 

And he'd failed at that too. 

He couldn't even avenge the people that Thanos had taken from him, his people, Heimdall, his best friend...

His brother.

 _Loki._ Thanos' large hand around his throat, crushing the life out of him, breaking his neck, all while Thor was too powerless to do anything. He hated himself for that, not being able to do anything but watch as his little brother was killed before his eyes.  
_I'm sorry, Loki._

The Stormbreaker dropped out of his hand and landed on the ground with a metallic clang. Thor didn't even seem to notice, what happened on that ship became a vivid image in his mind, Loki lying limp and lifeless, his bloodshot eyes staring into nothing. Thor's chest suddenly felt really tight, like a large snake coiling around his lungs and crushing them. He felt a hand on his shoulder shake him slightly but Thor couldn't even bring himself to turn his head.  
"Thor?" The voice barely reached his ears, it was Banner. Thor couldn't move, couldn't breathe, couldn't do anything. 

_"I know what it's like to lose.."-"To feel so desperately that you're right,"-"The Tesseract, or your brother's head."-"Kill away.."-"ALRIGHT STOP!!"-"I, Loki, Prince of Asgard...Odinson.."-"You...will never be...a god.."_

Banner shook his arm again when Thor didn't respond,  
"Thor, you okay?" It was a stupid question of course, but Thor was shaking and looked like he was about to collapse. Thor couldn't breathe at all, these thoughts, these memories, the pain he felt, his failure, it was too much. Thor's world began spinning and the voices inside his head were screaming, he felt his legs give out underneath him. 

Banner's arms shot out to catch Thor when his friend fell to his knees, he was panicked for a second, thinking that Thor was going to turn to dust as well, but he landed solid in his arms. His eyes were still open but he was still shaking violently,  
"Steve! Steve help me with him!!" The captain turned around to see what Banner was talking about , but when he saw Banner struggling to hold Thor up in his arms, he sprung to his feet and placed his arms under Thor as Banner slowly lowered his shaking body to the ground . As soon as Thor's head hit the ground, his world faded to black. _Please, wherever I wake up, please let it be with my brother._

It was three days before Thor woke up. 

He woke up back in the Avengers tower, in his old room. It was daylight, but the skies were so grey that it was hard to tell what time it was. But then the events of the last few days came crashing back and Thor squeezed his eyes shut in anguish, _Heimdall, Asgard, the Avengers, Loki.._ Seconds after he woke, it started to rain, heavily, the heavy rain was soon followed by crashing thunder. It was him. He honestly didn't have the will to put a stop to it. The storm was only listening to what his mood was telling it to do. Even then, the skies were too bright. Thor threw back the heavy covers and swung out of bed, he practically threw the curtains closed with a growl, lightning crashing as he did so. 

He curled up in the covers again, blocking out all noise with his pillow, trying to somehow fall back to sleep. He couldn't surpress his sigh of exasperation when he heard someone open the door and enter his room.  
"Hey big guy." That sounded like Rocket, but those footsteps were far too heavy for him. Letting his curiosity win, Thor poked his head out from under the covers, Steve was standing in the doorway, Rocket perched on his shoulder.  
"Saw the storm outside, figured you'd woken up." Steve mumbled slowly making his way over to Thor. Silence ensued. Steve shuffled awkwardly when he reached the bed. Rocket jumped from his shoulder onto the end of the bed, revealing a box that he'd kept hidden behind his back. Thor recognised the item instantly and lifted his head up a little more whilst Steve gave him a knowing smile,  
"You hungry buddy?" Rocket asked as he pushed the box of pop tarts in his direction. Gods he was hungry. When was the last time he ate? Three, four days ago? A week? It was no secret to anyone that Pop tarts were his favourite snack on Midgard. 

The sight of them in front of him made his stomach growl in want and he gave in and picked up the box in his hands. Steve's smile brightened, probably not expecting Thor to accept the food, he was happy that he did. Both him and Rocket seemed satisfied with Thor and took their leave, Rocket giving him a heartfelt pat on the shoulder before leaving with Steve. 

As hungry as he was, Thor only managed to finish one of the pastries before he couldn't actually force down any more. It tasted like ash in his mouth. He folded the box lid over and placed the rest of them on his bedside table. It was as if that movement alone had exhausted him. He felt completley drained, he felt tired, so so tired. He turned over in his bed with the intent of sleeping the day away, there wasn't anything to wake up for anymore. But as he turned over, he caught a glimpse of something sitting in the corner of the room, causing him to sit up again. 

Thor's eyes widened in fear when he saw that it was the Stormbreaker that was leaning against the wall. Thor's eyes stayed firmly locked on it, the tight feeling in his chest was quickly returning, the Avengers, his people, Heimdall, Loki.... _Thanos._ He couldn't breathe, he couldn't breathe! Everything from three days ago came flooding back. Thor was panting, desperately trying to fill his lungs. He gripped at the sheets of his bed, tearing into them with his fingers.  
_If he gets his hands on all six infinity stones, he can do it with the snap of his fingers, like this.._  
Thor shook his head as if he was trying to literally shake the memory of what Gamora had said to him.  
_You should have gone for the head.._  
Thor's stomach churned and he felt the bile rise in the back of his throat. He threw himself from the bed, landing hard on his front before scrambling to the bathroom with a hand covering his mouth and emptying his stomach into the toilet.

The storm carried on for days.

Thor didn't bother eating anything since that morning. Nothing seemed to stay down. He wasn't ill, he was just sad. Angry with himself. It wasn't until that first morning that Thor understood how many people had died, all because he hadn't gone for the head. Thanos was still alive and half the universe was dead, all because of him. Gods, he could just picture the look that Loki would be giving him right now if he was here, he would be disgusted with him, for failing to vanquish the mad titan who killed his own people in front of him. Thor couldn't even avenge who he loved the most. Whatever plan the remaining Avengers were coming up with, Thor wanted no part of it. He was truly done. He didn't have the will to fight anymore. He may as well have died along with the rest of them.

Rocket came in the next day,  
"Knock knock." He greeted, walking into the room. Thor didn't say anything in return. The racoon hopped onto the bed and placed a glass filled with water on his bedside table. When Thor didn't say anything again, Rocket sighed and made to leave him to it, but Thor stopped him at the door,  
"Rabbit?" The racoon didn't have the heart to correct him this time,  
"Yeah Thor?" Rocket turned back to face Thor, who was now staring at the ceiling.  
"Could you take that with you?" Thor asked and Rocket followed his gaze over to where the Stormbreaker was standing. 

Rocket had to admit, he'd had his eye on that axe ever since the snap. Mostly because the handle was part of Groot that he'd sacrificed to make it. But why was Thor suddenly asking him to take it when he'd almost died himself to get that weapon?  
"Umm...sure?" Rocket's other question was answered when he went to go and pick it up.  
"I know that a particular part of the stormbreaker is important to you, so do what you wish with it, it's yours. I have no further use for it, if anything I'm better off without it. Please, take it." Rocket was speechless as he held the axe by its handle. God, Thor really did understand him. Did he have any idea what a gift he was giving to him right now? Thor was giving him the only part of Groot that hadn't turned to dust. Rocket could've cried, but he wouldn't do it here. Rocket made to leave again, this time dragging the heavy axe behind him. He looked over his shoulder back to Thor before leaving the room,  
"Thank you, Thor."

When night came again there was another knock on his door. Thor didn't turn or say anything and then he heard his door open. He still didn't move.

"Thor?"

It was Steve.

"We're all about to turn in. Do you want anything to eat?" Thor could hear the hope in his voice. The last thing he wanted to do right now was eat. He shook his head and heard Steve sigh from the doorway. Thor expected him to give up and leave him be.

"Thor....please. Just eat something." Thor felt awful at the desperation in Steve's voice.

"I'm not hungry." He rasped loud enough for Steve to hear him. He heard Steve enter the room, the floorboards creaking slightly under his feet.

"Then could you at least get some rest? I know you haven't been sleeping, Rocket fills me in everytime he sees you."

Thor didn't respond, his eyes felt heavy and burning and there was a lump in his throat that was becoming harder to ignore. He tensed when he felt a hand on his shoulder but he still didn't turn around.

"Look, I'm worried about you, Thor. And I don't know who else has said it but they are too. We just want to help you."

_Why? Why are you worried about me? Why would any of you want to help me? Why do you assume that you can help me at all?_

"......I...could've saved them.." Thor then realised he'd spoken out loud. He felt the hand on his shoulder tense up and lift again.

"What?"

"I....I could've saved them...I could've killed him! I could've stopped all of this!" Thor blinked and tears cascaded down his cheeks and onto the bed sheets. He grabbed his hair in his hands and pulled hard. He could see a faint blue aura spill from his eye where they were beginning to glow with sparks and there was a loud crash of lightning from outside that lit up the whole room for a moment.

When he heard his door close, he assumed that Steve had left him alone to break down. But then he felt a weight on his bed that finally made him turn his head. Steve was still here.

Without saying a word, Steve lay on his side next to Thor reached an arm out to his friend and pulled him in. Steve secured both of his arms around Thor and pressed his head against his chest. Thot was shovked but he didn't pull away. He just breathed deeply in and out until the small sparks faded from his body. The warmth surrounding him was..pleasant. Thor started to feel some of the tension leaving his body and he soon relaxed into the captain's hold.

The tears were still coming and Thor didn't know how to stop them. He kept swiping at his eyes to stop them but then Steve gently grabbed his wrist to stop him. Thor looked up to steve's face and Steve gave him a kind smile.

"You're allowed to cry, Thor. No one can hold it in forever. Not even the strong ones like us."

Thor's eyes shined at steve's words. _please, don't try and help me._ Thor looked down at steve's chest to hide his face but another small sob tore from his throat and being to tired to fight for anything anymore, Thor let his grief take over. He expected Steve to find this awkward or uncomfortable but there were no signs of pity or awkwardness on his face. In fact, Steve looked just as tired as he did. He held onto Thor as he cried and soothed him by running his hands over his short hair.

He didn't know how long they lay like this but Thor felt his eyes getting heavy again but this time for a different reason. He could feel himself drifting away and not even bothering to fight his exhaustion any longer, he let his sleep take him away.

Thor hadn't slept since that night, everytime he closed his eyes, all he saw was the evil sadistic smirk of Thanos and the lifeless face of his brother. He had visits to his room from Natasha and Rhodes. Banner and Rocket came to visit daily, bringing him food and water, encouraging him to eat. Steve came to his room almost every night now. But every morning he would be gone like he was never there. During the night neither of them would say a word, Steve would just climb in the bed next to Thor. He felt guilty that he could never bring himself to say a word to Steve. But Thor was just so tired. He just wanted to sleep. He just wanted to dissapear.

Stark returned to Earth two days later. He started making visits to Thor's room as well but like with everyone else, Thor didn't speak. They still brought him food and water and tried to make conversation. They spoke kind words to him, it only made Thor feel that much worse for not responding to them. But Thor could hear them talking behind the door when they left, muttering their worries to eachother. After three more days, Stark came bounding into his room with a face as thunderous as the weather outside.  
"Alright Point break, I think you've been resting long enough, you can come down and eat breakfast with the rest of us." It wasn't a request, but it was like Thor was frozen, words stuck in his throat. He didn't move.

Stark came over to him and threw back his covers and Thor instantly felt the chill of the morning air on his bare torso. Stark gasped loudly at the sight of him, his chest and middle were lined with battle scars, most likely very recent, he was pale and sickly, there were large black bags under his eyes and he had lost weight. Thor looked dead. Stark's reaction made Thor curl up around himself even tighter, _just leave me alone._

Tony stared at Thor for a few more seconds but Thor didn't meet his eyes and made no indication to move, Thor wasn't expecting Stark to snap,  
"Alright Sparkles, you're gonna get out of bed and you're gonna come downstairs and eat with us and you're gonna stop feeling sorry for yourself! Do you hear!? You look like you've just come back from the dead! When was the last time you even ate anything?! When was the last time you slept?! They all might be okay with you laying around here all day, but I'm not! Carry on like this and we're taking you to the hospital!"  
Thor cringed at Stark's outburst, he'd never snapped at him like this before, but he still didn't move. Tony whirled around to leave the room but when he reached the door he looked back to Thor over his shoulder,  
"Banner told me what happened...and I'm sorry...believe me, I am..I can't imagine what must be going on inside that big blonde head of yours right now..but you really need to snap out of this buddy...I can't lose anyone else.." 

The door closed behind Tony when he left and when Thor could no longer hear footsteps, he sat up and stared at the closed door. Stark was right, he'd lost people too, so had everyone else, and that was all down to him, _it's all your fault!!_ Thor dug his nails into his palm when he caught his reflection in the mirror. He stood from his bed and dragged his feet over to the wall where the mirror stared back at him. His breathing was shaky and uneven. Just looking at himself made his anger rise.

In an attempt to calm himself, Thor looked at the floor and breathed in deeply and exhaled loudly. It wasn't working. He wasn't calming down. He clenched his fists again and when he looked back up at the mirror, Thor snapped. He roared as he slammed his fist into the mirror sending a storm of glass shards raining to the floor. Thor then clawed at whatever glass still clung to the frame of the mirror until he couldn't see a trace of his reflection on the wall, ignoring the slashes that the glass made in his fingers and hands. He looked back to the door that Stark had just walked out of. For the first time in days, Thor finally spoke,  
"I'm sorry...I'm sorry..I'm sorry.." He repeated the words over and over again until his throat was too sore to continue. 

It was a while before Thor decided to move again. But his hands were starting to sting from the cuts and the blood and glass had made quite a mess on his floor. He stumbled into the bathroom and turned on the cold water to wash the blood from his hands and then cleaned the blood from the sink. Not having anything to wrap them with, Thor tore the bottom of his cape, that had been abandoned on the floor, and tied two strips of the red fabric around his hands and pulling the knots tight. He'd clean up the glass later. He shoved on the first shirt he saw and slipped on the leather pants of his armour. His hair was scruffy and out of place, his eyes were bloodshot from his exhaustion. He returned to the bathroom and splashed cold water in his face but it didn't make him look any less tired or ill. He ruffled the short blonde hair so that it looked more fluffy than messy and then he left the room.

Going down the stairs was the biggest challenge he'd faced since Thanos, he stumbled on the first few and had to hold on to the banister and when he reached the final steps, he tripped over his feet and fell hard on his side. He quickly hauled himself up and limped in the direction of the voices of his friends. Thor stood in the doorway and the first to notice him was Banner. Tony followed his eyes and soon the entire room was staring at him. With all the eyes on him, Thor began to think that this was a bad idea and was considering just leaving, when Steve came over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, smiling at him warmly. The look was somewhat comforting and it built Thor's confidence up a little bit more. He took a step into the room. 

Banner practically ran up to Thor and engulfed him in a hug. As startled as he was, Thor returned the hug, not realising until now just how much he needed that. Natasha was smiling at him too, as was Rhodes and when he looked to Stark, he gave Thor a warm smile and a thumbs up. Thor really didn't understand, why were they all still treating him like he'd done nothing wrong and that he was some kind of victim? He wasn't the only one suffering and it was his fault his friends were suffering. Rocket hopped onto the chair next to where he was standing,  
"Well if it ain't sleeping beauty." He said with a smirk and patted the space next to him as an invitation to sit down.

Thor spent the rest of the day with his friends, they talked a lot but not much laughter was spread around, Thor didn't blame them for that, it was far too early to laugh about anything at the moment. He noticed how long it took for Steve and Tony to even look at eachother. Steve had filled him in on everything that had happened a few nights ago and honestly, Thor was glad that he wasn't there. Even though the two were in the same room, they didn't really speak. At one point in the afternoon, someone bought up a couple of bottles of liquor and Thor was quick to down two glasses of the stuff. Anything to make the white noise in his head stop. 

The skies grew dark but the storm raged on still. As long as he felt like this, it would probably never calm, Thor thought to himself as he poured himself another glass. He was grateful to his friends for giving him some space and not talking to him much, but the voices in his head kept getting louder and louder, _Failure!! It's your fault!! They are all dead because of you!!"_

Thor drank it down in one.

By noon, Thor's vision started to get fuzzy. The bottle in his hand was empty. Thor rose from his seat with the intent of getting more when the glass slipped from his hand and smashed against the hard floor. The loud noise made his head hurt and he suddenlycouldn't see straight. He felt someone grab his arm and he turned to see Natasha with a look of concern on her face, Thor took a quick look around and fortunately it seemed that everyone else was too into their conversations and hadn't heard the noise. He turned back to Natasha,  
"Are you okay?" She asked and Thor's vision blurred even more. _Don't worry them, you're not worth it._ Thor shook his head,  
"I'm fine." He said and turned around to walk away, he shouldn't have come down, this was a bad idea,  
"Thor-" She started firmly and Thor quickly interrupted before she could ask any questions,  
"I'm fine, just..leave it." He didn't shout at her but she seemed taken aback by his words. Thor pulled his arm from her grip and turned around. He wanted to leave, be anywhere else but here.

Thor reached the doorway and leaned against it when he suddenly felt really dizzy. The voices in his head were screaming now. Loudly. Louder than they'd ever been. A gentle hand pressed against his back,  
"Thor?" It was Banner. _Oh god, just leave me alone!!_ Thor closed his eyes and tried very hard not to scream at him those very words.  
"..Don't ask me how I am. P-please. J-just don't even ask me." Thor said between deep breaths.  
"You don't look so good" Banner muttered. He was right, Thor didn't feel well at all, he leaned his head against the doorframe choosing not to respond.  
"Are you okay? Do you need to lie down?" Banner asked, bless him, but Thor didn't deserve their care and he certainly didn't want their pity. 

"I don't..I don't know.." He answered as best he could. He almost fell over when Banner turned him around slightly causing him to open his eyes. From the gasp and the look Banner gave him, he really mustn't look so good.  
"Thor...how much have you had to drink?" Banner asked, concern smothering his voice. It took a while for Thor to process the question,  
"Why does it matter?" He answered after a worryingly long silence. Banner looked as if Thor had just slapped him, God he hated that look. Banner sputtered a little and took a step back,  
"Thor, are you serious?!" Banner didn't mean to shout the question, but it made nearly every head in the room turn to them both. Thor wasn't sure whether it was all of the eyes on him, or the blinding pain in his head, but when his concerned friends began to advance on him, something inside Thor snapped.

He tried to walk backwards when his friends came closer and closer to him but his back was against the wall. He felt trapped, like he had been aboard the ship, Ebony Maw binding him and gagging him, whilst he was completley helpless. He could barely hear his friends calling his name over the voices screaming in his head. He felt something drip into his hand, when had he started crying? He was crying hard. Tears were streaming down his face. When they started reaching out to Thor, they all halted when he screamed.

He screamed, and screamed, and screamed. He tore his eyes away from his friends, but he could still hear them approaching, someone reached out to touch his shoulder and Thor screamed again, trying desperately to get away,  
"No! No No NO!!" Thor felt around the wall behind him until he found the doorway, he fled, ignoring the cries of his friends. He ran out the front door into the night.

Thor didn't know where he was running, he didn't know where he was going, he just kept running. He was already drenched from the rain. He was running through the woods, only realising then that he was still screaming. But he didn't stop, he just kept running through the woods, screaming into the rain, roaring at the thunder. 

Something caught Thor's eye and he screeched to a halt. He'd come to a cliff. God, how long had he been running? He could see the Avengers tower through the heavy rain in the distance. He was surrounded by trees. Thor came closer to the edge and looked down, just more ground, grass and rocks. Norns was he high up. Thor knew that he should step back from the edge, but something was keeping him frozen to the spot. It was like the world around him ceased to exist when he looked down again. That was quite a fall. What if he didn't step away, what if he walked forward? Thor was scaring himself with his thoughts. No. Step away. Go back.

 _But you'll be with them again._

Thor went completley still at that thought. If he fell, would he finally he with his people again? Be with his parents again? Be with his friends again?..be with his brother again? _Loki.._ It would be so easy, just close his eyes, and walk forward. What more did he have to lose here? He'd lost everything he loved. He'd failed the universe...He was in so much pain. Just take one more step and he would be with them again. Thor closed his eyes, trying to calm his breathing, shut out any doubts in his mind. He spread his arms out wide, just one...more..step.. 

"NO!! THOR!!" Thor's eyes snapped open. He knew that voice, it wasn't one of the Avengers, it wasn't any of his friends, that sounded like...  
"BROTHER GET AWAY FROM THERE!!" No way, no way in Hel could that be..

Thor slowly..slowly turned around. He almost fell backwards off the cliff from the sight that greeted him. Standing right behind him, dressed in blue leathers, long black hair hanging around his shoulders, was _Loki.._

It was as if Thor's heart had stopped beating, had he actually fallen off that cliff? Was he in Valhalla? He was still in the exact same spot. So now his mind was playing tricks on him? Like he hadn't already suffered enough. His mind had to show him his brother, alive, standing in front of him. Illusion or not, it was coming towards him. Thor moved backwards, only then remembering that he was on the edge of a cliff, his foot was met with nothing but air and he could feel himself lose his balance, falling backwards. 

If he was to die here, he was grateful that the last thing he saw was Loki.

Thor yelped when he suddenly felt himself being pulled forward, a solid hand around his wrist hauling him away from the edge. He fell to the ground and landed hard on his knees. When he snapped out of his daze, Thor looked up to be met with the wild eyes of his brother, the illusion...no, not an illusion, illusions broke at physical contact and Thor most certainly hadn't pulled himself up from that cliff. That could only mean one thing...

Thor's voice trembled and his eyes were wet,  
"..Lo-Loki?.." the other man's eyes saddened but a hint of a smile crept across his face. He seemed to understand that Thor didn't know what was going on, he cupped Thor's cheek in his palm and ran his thumb under his eye where tears were starting to fall. Thor's eyes widened at the touch..Loki..was alive. Loki..was here.

Thor reached his own hand out and caressed Loki's cheek in return, pleasantly surprised when his hand didn't go right through it. His eyes never left Loki's for a second and Loki leaned into Thor's touch with a sad smile, placing his other hand over Thor's hand on his cheek. He was really here. His little brother had come back to him.  
"Brother?" He asked again and this time Loki responded through his own tears,  
"Oh my brother, what have they done to you.." His voice merely a whisper as he looked Thor over. He was so pale, so thin, Loki's arms slid around Thor's neck and he buried his face in Thor's shoulder. 

Thor was in shock, Loki, who had died right in front of him, who he thought about everyday since, was alive and embracing him like it was the end of the world. Thor fell out if the shock as quickly as it came, he threw his arms around Loki, crying into his chest whilst Loki brushed through his hair with his fingers,  
"Shh..I'm here now. I'm here." Loki repeated the words over and over again as Thor broke down in his arms. After a little while, the sobs stopped and Thor pulled back enough to look at his brother again. Though this time, Thor was smiling.  
"You're here." He said, pressing their foreheads together. 

Thor felt warm light spread through him, inside, and out. Thor actually turned his head slightly to see the source of the light embracing him and his brother. The storm had calmed, completley, the skies were no longer grey but a pale blue like someone had painted them. And rising behind the hill was a sight that Thor didn't think he would ever see again. 

The sun rise. 

He heard Loki bark out a laugh and Thor turned to him in wonder. Loki caught his stare and smiled brightly as he looked back to the sun. He pulled Thor in closer and Thor was willing to oblige, wrapping his arms around his brother's middle whilst Loki's hung loosely around his neck, both gazing at the exquisite sunlight rising above them as they sat on the edge of the cliff. Loki's arms tightened their hold on Thor ever so slightly,

"See brother? I told you the sun would shine on us again."


	2. Some kind of Pain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor struggles to move on after the war and worries that he never will, fortunately, he is not alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was just going to leave this as a one shot but after I had this idea, I had to add it. Warning: it does get quite emotional, I am sorry!! <3 happy reading :)

They did it.

The Avengers had done it, with the help of Ant man, they were able to bring back everyone who was lost with the use of the quantum realm. The final battle had lasted days with the mad titan's allies giving the earth's mightiest heroes everything they had. 

Thor fought valiantly, cutting down Thanos' allies with ease. He didn't have the Stormbreaker to help him this time, but in the end, he never needed it to begin with. As the battle actually began to die down with a few of Thanos' little pets remaining, Thor allowed himself to breathe, taking in the scene around him. The many dead bodies of Thanos' forces, as well as a few of their own, who had died with honour. The rest of the Avengers, all breathing heavily, covered in dirt and blood. Thor knew that wasn't the end of it. No. Though this battle had been tough, the final round was still to come. 

When an aura of blue surrounded by thick smoke appeared within the trees, Thor's eyes narrowed with hate and dread. Stepping through the portal he'd made with use of the space stone, Thanos appeared. It was disturbingly similar to the final events of their last battle that happened not so long ago. 

The mad titan looked angry, no, he looked psychotic. His eyes narrowed but his lips curled in a devilish grin, the infinity gauntlet, still damaged from his recent snap that wiped out half the universe, but the stones shone in all their glory. Thor glared at the titan, though Thanos had failed to spot him yet. The Avengers were all running at Thanos, shouting battle cries, weapons raised high, ready to face death.

Unfortunately, just as Thor predicted, Thanos made his way through them with ease, though this time he wasn't simply passing through to get an infinity stone like the last time, where his main target had been Vision. This time, Thanos was aiming to kill.

Several of the Wakandan soldiers were instantly killed by the power stone. Hawkeye was shooting arrows, at the same time Bucky fired his gun, at the same time Rocket shot his, at the same time Parker shot his webs. Natasha, Wanda, Strange, Rhodey and Falcon, as well as the rest of the guardians, were taking care of Thanos' remaining allies. Steve, T'Challa, Hulk and Stark were all running at the titan whilst he was distracted. 

Thanos blew back the Hulk with the Power stone and threw a heavy punch at T'Challa, knocking him to the ground. Thanos swung his other fist at Tony, sending him crashing through the trees. Steve swung at the titan with everything he had, socking Thanos under the jaw, causing him to stumble a little, before he met the same fate as T'Challa. 

Thor made his way through the woods, hiding behind trees in case he was seen, getting ready to attack. Until someone else ran at Thanos, daggers raised and ready to pounce and Thor's heart stopped. Loki. Thanos eyed the god of mischief running at him with a smirk, probably a little impressed that Loki had managed to escape death by his hand. Thanos raised the gauntlet, preparing to strike with the power of all six.

_You...will never be.....a god.._

_No, not again, please brother, not again. I cannot take losing you again. My heart cannot bear it._ It was like the world suddenly stopped moving. Before he knew it, Thor broke into a sprint, darting through the woods towards the creature who had taken everything from him, the monster who was ready to take away the last of his family again, it filled him with rage. White hot rage. Rage that emerged from inside him and wracked his body with angry white hot lightning. Thor shoved Loki out of the way and swung at Thanos with the intent of striking him with his lightning. But something struck him deep in the chest that sent him flying backwards and his world was nothing but extreme pain.

Thor blacked out for a second after his back hit the ground hard, winding him and his chest felt so tight that he could hardly breathe. Thor couldn't even sit up and see the damage, it hurt so much. From the pain in his chest, he knew that some ribs were broken. There was a burning sensation flooding through his body but he couldn't even cry out from the pain, all he could do was lie there in a daze. 

It was the voices of his friends calling his name that made him come back to himself and he blinked hard before he was able to see straight again. He hauled himself into a sitting position and leaned against a tree for support. Thanos had turned away from him now, probably thinking he had killed him. Honestly, Thor was surprised that he hadn't, blood was starting to leak from his nose from the force of the impact upon his head. The front of his armour was now black and heavily burnt, skin was showing slightly in some places. Thor was shocked that that amount of power hadn't killed him instantly. He'd pushed Loki out of the way, he'd taken the shot for his brother. With the power of all six stones, if anyone else had been hit, they would've died for sure. But he'd saved his little brother, he saved Loki this time.

As he tried to get the world around him to stop spinning, Thor became aware of someone grabbing his arm and trying to pull him up, Thor clutched the tree he was leaning on for dear life,  
"Thor, you idiot! Brother, come on! Get up!!" Loki. Thor lifted his head up to look at his brother and saw that Loki was trying to help him up. Everything was still rather fuzzy and there was a ringing in his ears, but Thor forced himself up on his feet. He could hear Loki calling his name, trying to get a response from him, but Thor's attention was on one thing only. 

Thor didn't take his eyes from the mad titan for even a second as he began to walk forward, he didn't even turn when he heard his brother's desperate cries for him to stop. Thor called his lightning again, letting the electrifying heat embrace his body. 

"THANOS!!" 

The titan's smirk dropped and he turned at Thor's call and let go of Steve, who he'd been holding by the throat. Everyone on the battlefield went quiet and the weapons stopped firing. Thanos' lip curled at the sight of the god, but the smug smirk came to his face once again.  
"You are hard to get rid of, Asgardian. I'll say that." He finished with a bitter chuckle. Thor's jaw clenched and his lightning began to get wilder. Thanos saw and began to laugh again.

Thor didn't take the bait, instead, he closed his eyes. The titan's laughter died down and the snarl was back again. Thanos raised the gauntlet again, the stones glowed as he was about to strike. 

_"He is anxious, angry, he feels tremendous loss and guilt."_

With a mighty yell, Thanos held out the gauntlet and a burst of energy was released and was approaching Thor at lightning speed. After being hit once with that power, Thor knew he wouldn't survive a second time. But this time, he was ready.

_"You know, I'm fifteen hundred years old. I've killed twice as many enemies as that, and every one of them would've rather killed me but none succeeded. I'm only alive because fate wants me alive. Thanos is..just the latest in a long line of bastards and he'll be the latest to feel my vengeance. Fate wills it so."_

_"Mhmm. And what if you're wrong?"_

Thor's eyes snapped open and he thrust his hand forward. His lightning obeyed him with a crash and a blast flew from his hand. The lightning blast was met in the middle by the power of the gauntlet and the two began to battle eachother. The lightning was wrapping around the powerful energy being charged at it's master whilst the infinity stones glowed even brighter as Thanos threw everything he had at the god of thunder.

The skies clouded over in a dark grey and claps of thunder could be heard in the distance. Lightning crashed from the skies and one hit the tree that Loki was standing under, causing him to jump out of the way as the tree came tumbling down. When the god of mischief looked across the field, he could see some of Thanos' amalgamate pets had made it past the team and were crowding over to them. He wasn't the only one who noticed. Two gunshot rang out and Loki looked up near the trees to see the winter soldier, who nodded to Loki once the two locked eyes. 

Another creature ran at Loki, who held it back by pressing against its slimy chest before running it through with one of his daggers. Loki was quickly joined by Rocket, Spiderman, Drax, Hulk and Steve. Loki took one last look at his brother, he seemed to be holding his own for now against Thanos, he had to stay focused. Loki summoned another dagger to his left hand and ran at the crowd of monsters.

More lightning struck from the darkened skies, getting more and more intense with every second the god and the titan remained in battle. A blue aura emerged from the lightning that was battling the infinity stones' power, that melded with the golden aura that came from the gauntlet. The battle was a perfect tie, each blast meeting in the middle. Thor's chest was burning from the last strike from the gauntlet and he was feeling incredibly dizzy. Whether from the hit or from using too much power, Thor wasn't sure. But the gauntlet was starting to win over his powers.

_"I'm gonna hold it open."_  
_"That's suicide."_  
_"So is facing Thanos without that axe."_

_"I...Loki...Prince of Asgard....Odinson.."_

Thor tried to force more lightning from within, he couldn't lose now. He couldn't stop now. His vision was growing fuzzy and his breath grew short. He could feel more blood leaking from his nose and ears from how much of his power he was using. Thor closed his eyes again and allowed his mind to wander. He was in that meadow again, the place where his father died. He was exhausted from his battle with Hela, his eye had been torn from his head.

 _"What were you the god of again?"_

He remembered bringing about Ragnarok, how he, Loki, Hulk and Valkyrie had all saved Asgard together. He remembered theit ship being attacked that same day by Thanos and the Black order. Heimdall lying there severely injured but calling the Allfathers to use their dark magic to send Hulk to Earth to warn the Avengers of Thanos. How Thanos had stabbed his oldest friend through the heart so brutally.

_"That was a mistake."_  
_"You're going to die for that!"_

Thor lifted his other hand to add more power and the lightning began fighting back against the gauntlet's power, the battle became a tie once again. 

Loki grabbed another of the repulsive creatures from behind and slit it's throat before he turned back to his brother and Thanos. Both were still standing and Thor looked on the brink of death, but Loki smirked when he saw the lightning start to win over the infinity stones. Loki was thrown off when one of the monsters pounced on his back and knocked him to the ground. Loki thrashed around to get free from the thing restraining his arms, but with a bang, the creature shrieked in agony before slumping off Loki's back and it did not move again. 

Loki jumped to his he feet and shuddered at the sight of the dead amalgamate before looking at the racoon, who had saved him. Rocket blew the head of his gun as smoke billowed from the top. Another creature ran up behind rocket with a snarl before Loki launched one of his knives at the beast which stuck straight into its forehead and died instantly. He turned his eyes back to the battle between his brother and the titan. With just a little more power, Thor should be able to...

Thor knew he couldn't hold on much longer, the wound on his chest was deep and burning terribly. He was using far too much power. He could feel a line of blood from his ears leaking down his jaw and the blood from his nose was starting to run into his beard. Thor panted for breath but his lightning didn't wane. It would only he a matter of time however, before it did. His glare on Thanos intensified as he saw the titan begin to smile, as if to say _give up. I will win._

_"Undying. You should choose your words more carefully."_

Thor frowned as he thought back to that night. Loki sacrificing himself to save Thor. Loki thrusting a dagger towards Thanos' throat, only to be lifted by his neck and choked to death, whilst Thor was forced to watch. His entire body being taken over by anger and grief and the familiar thirst for revenge.

_"You were supposed to protect us.."_

Thor felt his cheeks become wet from his tears but he didn't let up on his concentration. He channeled his grief, he let it make his lightning stronger. Then Thor heard someone shout to him,  
"Brother, you have to let go!" Thor could bearly hear over the crashing and clapping of the storm around him, but he knew it was Loki. Let go? What did he mean? Wasn't he already giving everything he had?  
"LET GO, BROTHER!!" Loki shouted at him. Thor's eyes widened in realisation at what his brother meant and then narrowed at the titan. Let go.

_"Well if I'm wrong, then..what more could I lose?"_

_"I assure you, brother..."_

Thor's eyes began to glow.

_"..The sun will shine on us again."_

"THOR, LET GO!!" 

And let go he did. Thor pulled his hands back, breaking the chain and thrust them out at his sides. With a mighty roar, Thor let go of everything, of his power, his control, his anger, his grief and his regret.

The lightning flew from Thor rapidly, his body surrounded by blue light, his eyes shone an electric blue, his mouth wide open in a scream. The lightning rushed at Thanos, burning through the gauntlet's power and attacking the bewildered titan. Thanos held his arms out as if he was trying to block the power out, he tried to move his arm to use the gauntlet again, but his arms were frozen in place from the paralysing energy. 

Thor thought for a second that he'd collapsed, he could no longer feel his feet touching the ground. Bit that's because they weren't on the ground at all. Thor was rising up in the air, looking down on the mad titan. He was flying. He was actually flying, without his hammer or the Stormbreaker, he was flying. Loki watched with  
awe as his brother lifted from the ground shooting bolt after bolt of lightning at the titan.

The god of thunder could see Thanos struggling under his power and Thor screamed again, letting out the anger and grief and control and channeling them into his lightning. A flash of white made everyone on the battlefield cover their eyes, and the force was enough to send many of the team to the ground. Some of them tried to take cover but it hardly made any difference. Loki squinted his eyes shut and gritted his teeth, he tried with everything he was to stay standing, he couldn't see Thor or Thanos anymore. The battlefield was now just a ball of light.

Thor let himself slowly drift back down to earth as everyone covered their eyes or tried to cover themselves from the light. Thanos was yelling, trying to see through the blinding white to no avail. Thor unsheathed his sword from his back and leapt into the air, raising the sword high above his head. With a final mighty battle cry, Thor launched down at Thanos swinging his sword down too. The last thing that Thor saw before the blade made contact with Thanos' neck, was the shocked, confused, _scared_ face of the mad titan.

Just like that, the light dissapeared. People came out from their hiding places. Many were just confused at what had just happened. Steve uncovered his eyes and looked around, pretty much everyone was floored and a sea of pained moans washed over him. The Captain relaxed however when he didn't immediately see anyone fatally wounded. The skies were starting to clear and the storm seemed to have stopped. Was it over? Did they...did they win?

Loki took Bucky's hand when it was offered to him and pulled himself to his feet with a groan. _Thor!_ Loki turned back to where his brother had been standing against Thanos just seconds ago. Loki's heart stopped at what he saw. 

Thor was lying flat on his back in the dirt. The blue aura and lightning was fading away from Thor's body. Thor didn't answer when Loki called his name. His eyes fell to the ground and there, lying near Thor's head, was the bloody, decapitated body of Thanos. The titan's head was lying a few feet away in a puddle of purple. 

Loki broke into a sprint until he was beside Thor's unconscious form. Thor didn't move at the contact, he didn't react at all. Loki shook his brother's shoulders, "Thor?" Nothing. The blood was still coming from Thor's ears and nose. He leaned over Thor to listen for breath. He felt a stab of panic when his brother's chest didnt rise and fall in response. Thor wasn't breathing. _No._ Loki shook Thor again, using his free hand to brush the dirt from his face.  
"Thor. Thor, come on...Thor, wake up." Loki didn't realise how loud he was shouting but at that moment, he didn't care. His brother wasn't breathing.

Loki knew that Steve, Stark, Banner, Rocket and Bucky had all surrounded the two gods. Loki didn't take his eyes off his brother once as he continued to shake and call his name, trying to bring him back.  
"Thor, come on, it's over now. You did it, brother. You beat him, it's over!" Nothing. Unbearable fear and grief struck Loki like he'd actually just been slapped. _No. Not now, you bastard. I've just got you back!_

Loki pulled the still frame of his brother into his arms and continued to try and bring Thor back. There's no way in hell that he's letting Thanos take him. Dead or not, he will not take his brother from him.  
"Brother, open your eyes...please.." Loki took Thor's hand. It slid out of Loki's grasp and fell back at his side limply. Loki's breath caught in his throat and he swallowed the lump building up. _Norns no. Anything but this!_  
"Come on, brother, breathe.." Loki waited for a response, anything. His brother remained lifeless. Loki felt like he was burning, like he had his neck snapped all over again.

"Thor.." And just like that Thor let out a breath. His eyes flying open. Loki gasped and fell backwards on his elbows. Thor breathed in and out trying to fill his lungs and Loki was by his side again instantly. He tried to soothe his brother as he took in large gulps of air. Relief washed over Loki and he let himself smile. Thor was alive. Loki carded his fingers through the short blonde hair,  
"Are you alright?" Thor nodded with another gasp for breath and Loki leaned back so that Thor had some space. As soon as Thor locked eyes with him, Loki held out his hand and Thor took it and clasped it tightly. There was an expression on Thor's face that matched how Loki was feeling. Relief. Thor smiled at Loki with sad eyes and Loki looked at him that same way. When Thor's breathing quietened down, Loki asked,  
"Do you want to sit up?" Thor stared at Loki for a moment before nodding again and Loki helped to pull him up to a sitting position. But when he was up, he started slumping over on his front, Loki was quick to catch him and Thor held onto his arms like his life depended on it.

Once he saw it, Loki couldn't stop looking at Thanos' dead body. Dead. He was dead. Such a thing almost seemed impossible. But there he was, lying dead at the hands of his big brother. Loki couldn't stop the joyless smirk that crossed his face. _He was no god. He never stood a chance. Only a god can kill another god._

"At least I went for the head that time, you bastard." 

Loki looked at his brother when he spoke in a hushed voice. Thor stared down at what he'd done, a deep frown etched onto his features. It was then that Loki once again noticed the blood that had come from Thor's nose and ears and his heavily bloodshot eyes. His skin was pale and dirty. As soon as the last spark dissapeared from Thor's hands, Thor crumpled in Loki's arms. Loki held him in a tight embrace. He held his brother's head to his shoulder and clutched him tightly so that he would remain upright as he ran his other hand through the short blonde hair whilst Thor tried to catch his breath.

"It's over, brother." Loki whispered as he continued to hold Thor tightly.

Like he'd been held underwater for so long, Loki felt suddenly like he'd finally come up for air. Ever since he was trapped in Thanos' clutches the first time after his falk from the Bifrost, Loki always felt trapped. Like the titan would catch up with him eventually. Thanos haunted him for years like a nightmare that he could never wake up from. And now thanks to his brother, he felt like he'd woken up. He could breathe properly again. Thor had killed the monster.

The war was finally over.

Cap ran into Bucky's arms in a tight embrace, which the falcon joined in on. Wanda and Vision held on to eachother as if they never wanted to let go. The Guardians joined in a group hug around Gamora and Stark and Parker threw their arms around eachother slapping eachother on the back and laughing. The realisation hit Thor like a ton of bricks and he leaned back from Loki's embrace. They had won. 

Loki helped Thor to stand up, but he leaned against him for support as he still felt rather dizzy. Thor caught sight of the hulk running up to the group with a roar that made all eyes turn to him. The hulk stopped and looked over all of them briefly, probably checking if anyone was missing. He scanned over them all until the big guy's eyes landed on Thor. Hulk stomped over to where the god of thunder was standing and Thor stared at him as he advanced. The hulk came to a stop and knelt down in front of Thor. Neither said anything for a few seconds but then Hulk reached out his large green hand and placed it almost tenderly on Thor's shoulder. Thor's eyes widened as the hulk patted his shoulder and the hulk met his gaze.

"Thor..Okay?" The big guy asked in a low rumble. Thor was stunned into silence for a few seconds but when the hulk began to look at him with concern, Thor gathered himself and nodded.  
"Yes, my friend. Thor okay." He patted the Hulk's hand that was layed on his shoulder and the hulk rose to his feet with a satisfied grunt. The hulk continued to look around at his friends that were all scattered across the Wakandan plains before turning back to the brothers.  
"Puny god?" Hulk asked and Thor blinked at him, thinking that the big green guy was talking to him. Puny god? Thor looked at Loki, who seemed torn on how to answer him. Eventually, Loki cleared his throat and nodded to the Hulk,  
"Yes. I'm okay." Hulk nodded back and them wandered off in Stark's direction.

Thor took in the scene before him, after so long, the universe was balanced once again. People were finally smiling again, there was once again a reason to smile. Thor smiled at his friends as they reunited with their loved ones. He'd finally put right everything he got wrong. He looked to the sun, it was shining brighter than ever.

A sharp stab of pain in his chest made Thor gasp and that's when he remembered he was still injured. He was also incredibly tired. He imagined that he probably looked like death at this point, his nose was still bleeding, the dizziness began to return and he felt hands clasp his shoulders. Someone was calling his name and shaking him. Thor didn't look away from the sun, it was a sight that he wanted to remember for the rest of his days. Soon Thor's vision was clouded and everything faded to black around him. With a sigh, Thor let himself fall.  
............................................................................................

_"You....will never be......a god."_

_"What more could I lose?"_

_"I told you...you die for that."_

_"You should've gone for the head.."_

_And with a snap of the mad titan's fingers, Thor was surrounded by darkness. Everything was painted black. Thor couldn't see anything. Where had his friends gone? They were just behind him a second ago. Where was Thanos? What had he done? Thor knew what the snap meant, he'd been too late. He had failed to save the universe. But Thor couldn't see anything, was he dead too?_

_Thor looked around the blackness that he seemed to be trapped in. He tried to run. He ran and ran and ran. He didn't seem to be getting anywhere. He called out for help._  
_"Loki?!" He called into the darkness. Nothing. He called again,_  
_"Banner?!" He was once again met with silence, he tried once more,_  
"Steve?!" No reply. 

_"They are gone."_

_That voice. It made the hairs on the back of Thor's neck stand up. No way. There was no way that could be...  
Thanos._

_Standing behind him in the darkness, was the mad titan himself. The face that Thor thought he'd never see again. The face that had last been full of fear when Thor cut his head from his shoulders. Thor couldn't help the strangled gasp that escaped his lips. The titan smirked._

_"They made a sacrifice. I granted them mercy. Just as I did with half of every other living thing. You couldn't kill me, even with all that power."_

_Thor could only stare in shock and fear. No. this...this wasn't possible. Thor's breath hitched in his throat._

_"Oh, don't worry child. You'll be with him soon."_

_Thor turned and ran, where he ran to, that did not matter, he just had to get away from him. A light appeared ahead of him. Thor ran towards that light as fast as he could. The titan's laughter echoed around him. Thor reached the source of the light and it looked to be a doorway. Thor didn't even think twice before running through it. He threw the door shut and twisted the handle. He leaned against the door to try and get his breath back._

_When his heart beat returned to normal, Thor finally turned around to look at where he'd come to. Then his brow furrowed in confusion. This looked like....his old room. In the Avengers tower. Everything was exactly as he'd left it. Thor warily searched the room for any sign of something being wrong. Nothing. Everything seemed to be in order. Thor checked the drawers in his bed side table, just as he'd left them. What? Thor crouched so he could check under the bed. It was bare. Nothing but a dark crawlspace. Thor pushed against the side of the bed with his hands to help himself stand up again. What was going on here? Suddenly there was a breath on the back of his neck. Thor's blood ran cold. A large purple hand snatched the back of his neck._

_"Found you.."_

_Thor screamed._

"Thor, come on, wake up!"

_Thor couldn't stop screaming and thrashing as the hand on his throat began to lift him up._

"THOR!!

_It's your fault!!_

_It's your fault!!_

_It's your fault!!_

_"BROTHER, PLEASE WAKE UP!!"_

Thor bolted upright in bed with a scream. He continued to scream and pant as the image wouldn't leave his mind. Nor would the voices. He felt like the covers were suffocating him, he kicked wildly to get them away from him. He flinched to get away from the hand that reached out to him and he saw the hand pause before pulling back. The voices, they were getting louder again, screaming. Thor pressed his hands to the sides of his head to get them to shut up. It wasn't working.

Loki watched in horror at the sight of his brother. Whether he was still having a nightmare, Loki couldn't tell. He'd never seen Thor look so scared. The way he reacted when Loki reached out to touch him. Now he knew what Banner meant. They had spoken briefly when they brought Thor back to their cabin after his collapse on the field. After he'd cleaned the blood from Thor's face and made sure he would be warm, Loki left him to sleep. Using that much power must've drained Thor pretty badly. He had left the room with Bruce waiting for him and the scientist had filled him in on everything that Thor never told him happened before he came back.

_"..It's pretty obvious by now that, well..look Thor's not okay, Loki. He's far from okay. I tried to talk to Stark about it and he keeps insisting that Thor will be fine now that you're back. But you and I know him better, and you and me were both on that ship that night, I don't know what happened after I was sent to Earth, but I know that Thor came back alone."_

_He's always on edge, he's always checking on you. He keeps having nightmares. Steve insisted on staying with him those first few nights but nothing's really changed. The night before you came back, he had a total breakdown. He ran out of the house, we didn't know where he went. With the state he was in, we didn't know what he was gonna do. I don't know what's gonna happen when he wakes up but.. we can't pretend he's not sick, Loki."_

_Loki knew. God he knew. When he came back and found his brother, standing on the edge of that cliff, Loki had never been so terrified. When he revealed himself and pulled Thor away from the edge, Loki knew, some of the light was gone from Thor's eyes. Something had changed. His brother was different. It was like he was there, he still looked like Thor, but at the same time he didn't. Loki absorbed all of that information that Banner told him, not bothering to tell him about the cliff._

_"Thor's been showing signs of, what we call on Earth, a PTSD, a post traumatic stress disorder." Banner continued.  
"Tony was showing the same signs after the battle in New York"_

_Loki swallowed before looking back to the room where his brother was sleeping._  
_"So what does that mean? How will this affect him?" Loki's voice had gone scratchy. He heard Banner sigh before speaking again,_  
_"Well he's already having nightmares, most nights he doesn't bother sleeping. He's eating like a bird. He drinks alot more. He may experience panic attacks from time to time. He also may get angrier alot easier. When he wakes up, I'll imagine he's probably not gonna feel great and he may not remember much. But Thanos is dead now, he's gone, everyone's back. We'll just have to keep reminding him and be there for him. That's all we can really do."_

So that's what Loki did. He slowly approached Thor again, though his brother's face was pressed into his knees and his hands were covering his head. Loki reached out again and his fingers brushed lightly against Thor's knee. Thor flinched, but he didn't recoil in fear. Thor slowly dragged his hands down his face and eventually, he and Loki locked eyes.

"Shh, I'm here now. It was just a dream. Everyone is okay now. You saved us."

And just like that, Thor began to shake. Loki pulled his head into his chest and held him. Thor began to cry into Loki's chest and Loki didn't mind that his shirt was quickly getting soaked. He just held his brother through it.

They both cried themselves to sleep that night.

Someone entering the room stirred them both from sleep.  
"Good morning." Thor picked his head up to see Steve standing in the doorway. He exchanged a smile with his dear friend which only grew when he heard Loki groan loudly next to him and bury his face in a pillow. Thor rolled his eyes and nodded back to Steve before yawning.  
"I sent Bruce to bed, poor guy's been up all night waiting for any news on how you were doing. I told him I'd take over for a while." Thor sat up and stretched, whilst Loki was quite content to fall back asleep. It was then that Thor noticed the lack of light in the room. He looked to the window. Morning? It still looked dark outside. Thor thought, confused. Steve must've noticed Thor's confusion because he was quick to get his next words out.  
"Yeah. Sorry buddy, it is still pretty early. But there's something, or rather someone, who we think you'll want to see. She asked for you specifically." Steve whispered turned and left the room before Thor could ask what he was talking about.

Thor looked at his alarm clock. Gods, it was early, 4:47am. It must be important if someone wanted to see him at this time. He gave Loki a little shake to wake him and loki grumbled loudly and Thor pulled back his covers. Loki shot him a death glare,  
"..Fine. Alright, alright, I'm up." Thor smiled fondly at his grouchy brother and opened a drawer. The people of Wakanda had been kind enough to provide their guests with extra clothing. Thor pulled on a tunic and wrapped a thick black cloak around his shoulders to keep warm. Loki didn't have to worry about the cold but he copied his brother's actions.

Leaving their cabin and walking into the bitter winter air, Thor pulled his cloak tighter around himself and looked behind to check that Loki had followed him out. He was rather confused at the number of guards standing around their cabin, spears raised. He saw a number of Avengers had left their own cabin to see what was going on.

What Thor saw when he turned around made his breath stop with a gasp. There was a strange yellow ship laying in the middle of the feild, Thor instantly recognised it as the Commodore. A small crowd of people were gathered around the ship. Not just any people, his people, _Asgard._ The few that had survived Thanos' slaughter and made it off the ship. Most of them consisted of children and their mother's carrying their babies with their husbands holding their wives in their arms.

He recognised the walking pile of rocks stood ahead of the crowd as Korg. Then Thor saw who Steve had been referring to when he came to their room. Leading the crowd of his people, was the very last Valkyrie. Looking very much like the warrior she was in her armour. Her dragonfang at the ready if she needed to use it to protect the people. Thor and Valkyrie locked eyes, both looked just as surprised to see the other. Thor stepped off the front porch and slowly made his way across the feild towards her. Loki watched his brother go and nodded to the two guards standing either side of the door before passing through himself and they took their leave, marching away, calling ofor the rest of them to put down their spears.

Thor didn't take his eyes from Valkyrie's for a second, was she real? Did Asgard really survive? The number of people in the crowd was horrifically small. There had to be a few hundred at the most. But they were alive. His people had made it home. Thor stopped in front of the Valkyrie and the two just stared at each other, both thinking the same thought. That they thought they'd probably never see eachother again. At least not alive.

Something clicked in both their heads at the same time, Valkyrie threw down her sword and jumped into his arms and snapping out if his shock, he wrapped his arms around her without hesitation. He held her tight, her feet weren't even touching the floor and she hugged him with such ferocity. Norns, she must be freezing. She closed her eyes and buried her face in his shoulder and Thor closed his eyes and let out a sigh of relief that his dear friend had made it after everything. Valkyrie opened her eyes and picked her head up and Thor let her down to see what had caught her attention. Loki had caught up to Thor and was standing a few feet behind him. She looked just as surprised to see him too. They thought twice about hugging eachother though and Loki just smiled at her.

Thor took a second to gaze over his people, some were smiling, some were bowing their heads to their king, some were just relieved, Asgard had survived.  
_"home is where our people stand._  
One of the last things his father said to him. He looked over his people, he looked over the Avengers, Stark, Steve, Banner, Natasha and Clint. His best friends. His eyes met the Valkyrie's again, she would be an excellent kingsguard. Then his eyes locked on his brother, he would not rule, he would not rebuild Asgard without Loki by his side. Home was where the people stood. And at that moment Thor knew he was home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is always something to lose in the end. Again I was going to leave this as a one shot but let me know if you liked chapter 2, I love hearing from you all <3 Bye :)


	3. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor and loki are due to leave Wakanda and head for Norway. The night before, Thor goes out for air and runs into Steve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did it again, I'm sorry!! I swear this is the last chapter! I added this because I wanted to add some Thundersheild and it will tie in with the kind of sequel I'm writing "Undying fidelity" go check it out! :)

Thor couldn't sleep. He wanted to, god he wanted to. But it just wouldn't happen. He was so tired. He didn't sleep at all the night before and the night before that, he had a nightmare that got so bad, he nearly electrocuted Loki. He decided not to go back to sleep after that and Loki stayed with him until morning and fell asleep himself whilst Thor held him. 

Mostly, Thor was scared to sleep. 

Everytime he closed his eyes, he saw Thanos all over again. He would spend most nights screaming and thrashing in bed until someone came and woke him up. The guilt that Thor felt when he woke up screaming only to be met with the worried eyes of one of his friends. He knew that it was probably becoming a bother to them. Thor knew that if he let himself sleep, he would be shaken awake soon after because he was waking all of Wakanda with his screams, that sometimes started thunderstorms. 

He looked down to his hands that were holding a small white bottle. Banner had given these to him this morning. He said that they would help him sleep, the only flaw in them, they wouldn't stop his nightmares. He did need to sleep. He was leaving tomorrow. He and his brother were on their way to Norway tomorrow to meet with the Asgardians, who were currently being taken care of by Valkyrie. As soon as they arrived, they would begin rebuilding Asgard, Thor needed to be in the best fit shape possible to meet with his people as their king. Screw it. He was exhausted. Thor flipped the cap open and spilled two pills into his palm. 

Thor raised his palm to his lips but stopped at the last second. Was it really worth it if he was just going to sleep through another nightmare? This time, he wouldn't wake up. Thor slammed his hand down on the nightstand with a growl. When would this end? Was he doomed to spend the rest of his life living in fear of a dead man? Dead by his own hands at that. After waiting a few moments to see if he'd woken his brother, who was sleeping in the next room, Thor sighed heavily into his hands. 

Staying cooped up in his bedroom wasn't helping. He needed some air. Thor threw the bottle across the room and stood up from his bed. He quietened down when he walked into the hall to make sure he didn't wake up Loki. Though his brother was a very light sleeper. A feather hitting the ground could probably wake Loki up. 

Thor opened the cabin door and stepped out into the night. The winter air striking him with intense ferocity, making him shiver. Instantly regretting the decision to rush outside only wearing a thin vest and leather pants, Thor came back inside and grabbed his black cloak that was hanging by the front door next to his brother's green one. He pulled it over his shoulders and fastened it around his neck, before opening the door and re-entering the night. 

Thor walked through the feilds that were surrounded by the cabins of the other Avengers. Every light was out. It didn't surprise Thor that he was the only one still awake. Well that wasn't completely true, he walked past some of the Wakandan soldiers, including Okoye and Ayo, the latter of the two had been getting pretty close with Brunhilde before she left for Norway the day before. When they looked at him they smiled and bowed their heads and Thor nodded and smiled back to them and continued on. 

Thor wandered the streets for a while, taking in the crisp winters night. The snow was gentle and soft and decorated his black cloak and hair with white spots. Thor looked up to the dark sky lit up with stars and closed his eyes, smiling into the snow. The god of thunder was warm in every aspect but Winter was by far his favourite season. He loved the colours, the holidays, the beautiful weather. 

The main reason Thor loved winter was because it reminded him of Loki. Ever since he came to Earth for the first time after everything between him and his brother fell apart, Thor learned alot of new things about winter, he used the season as a way to remember his brother. Even though Loki was with him again now, it didn't make him love the season any less. 

"Thor?" 

Thor's eyes shot open startled and he looked around to see who had brought him from his thoughts. Standing behind him under a tree, was Steve. The captain was dressed very much like he was, his face shaved and hair cut, just as Thor knew him best. Thor smiled warmly at Steve and the captain's worried gaze melted away and he smiled back. A sudden thought occurred to Thor, had the captain followed him out here? 

Cap must've seen Thor looking around to see if anyone else was around because he chuckled and came closer to the thunderer,  
"Don't worry, it's just me." Steve gave Thor his signature smirk and Thor relaxed.  
"No, before you ask, I didn't follow you. I've been out here for a while, I was just walking back to my cabin and I saw you from over there. Just wanted to make sure you're okay." Steve tilted his head to the side in question and Thor smiled sadly at him.  
"I couldn't sleep. I thought a walk would help clear my mind." Thor figured that there was no point in lying. 

A look of realisation dawned on Steve and he nodded,  
"Yeah, me neither. I came out here to, you know, clear my head. Then as I was leaving the house, I found Buck's secret stash." Steve reached into his coat pocket and produced a bottle filled with a clear liquid that was no doubt some form of strong Wakandan liquor. Not that it would affect the captain of course. 

Steve pulled the stopper from the bottle and took a sip before holding the bottle out to Thor. The other blonde accepted the offer and took the bottle from the captain's cold hands. He took several gulps before passing it back to Steve. Yes, it was strong. Much stronger than any of the Sakkarian Alcohol that he and Loki spent long nights on the ship sharing, passing the bottle back and forth and talking for hours on end. Thor coughed a little around the slight burn in his throat as he swallowed the drink. 

There was a comfortable silence between them as they stood in the snow. Thor never felt uncomfortable around Steve, that was what made their relationship unique. They knew they could trust eachother before they even got to know eachother properly. For the first few nights after the snap, Cap often came to Thor. Even though Thor barely spoke a word to anyone who came to see him, with Steve he didn't need to say anything. Cap had been his shoulder to cry on for those first few days and after that, Steve still came back. 

They talked about their grief to eachother and what made Steve so special to Thor, was that he showed more understanding when it came to Loki. His brother and the Captain didn't really meet properly during the battle of New York and during that time, Loki was trying to conquer Earth. But alot had happened in the time Thor and Steve had been apart and after Thor explained everything that him and loki had been through since then and how Loki had helped to save Asgard and how he'd sacrificed himself to save Thor, Steve told Thor that he understood because he'd been in a similar situation with Bucky. Steve told Thor all about the Sokovia accords that had cracked his relationship with Stark and how trying to save Bucky had split the Avengers up. Honestly, Thor was glad that he wasn't there. 

"Come on. Let's get outta here." Steve had once again startled Thor from his thoughts. The captain offered his arm to Thor and after a few seconds, Thor locked their arms together. They both walked the streets in a comfortable silence, occasionally Steve would take out the bottle and they'd both drink. At one point Thor slipped on some ice, nearly taking them both down and they both laughed until their sides hurt. The night was peaceful. Everything had been nothing but peaceful ever since....

Thor almost didn't want to leave. 

Thor and Steve left the streets and started walking through the feilds again , which eventually led them to the lake covered in a thick layer of ice. Steve sat down in the long grass by the bank, his feet just barely touching the frozen water. Thor sunk down beside him looking across the moonlit lake. 

Steve placed the bottle down in the grass and looked to Thor, his face was glowing from the moon's light and the wind caressed his face making him hum. Steve quickly tore his gaze away before Thor could catch him staring and followed his eyes to where he was looking ahead. Neither said a word for a whole until Thor eventually broke the silence.  
"I will be alright, you know? After I leave tomorrow." Steve looked back to see Thor staring at him now. He blinked before realising what he was talking about. He looked down to the ground as he responded,  
"I know you will, Thor. I know you will, because you are by far, the strongest guy I know. Not just physically." Thor didn't know how to respond to that, so he chose not to. Steve passed Thor the bottle and Thor decided quickly to change the subject.  
"You know, if I'd been here, I would've helped you." 

Steve blinked at Thor, unsure of what he was talking about, Thor saw this and continued,  
"I mean everything that happened with you and Stark. Sure, he's one of my best friends and I would die in battle for him just as I would you and Banner. But if I'd been here, I would've helped you." Thor finished looking back across the lake. Steve looked at Thor stunned before he found Thor's hand that was buried in the grass and squeezed it slightly.  
"I know." He did know. When it came to conflict with the team, he and Thor were always on the same side. Sometimes it was he and Thor against everybody else.

The god smiled at Steve,  
"I know why he was angry, I'm still trying to understand the whole situation clearly. But I understand your situation better than anyone, if someone posed a threat to Loki, regardless if he'd done anything wrong, I would do everything I could to help him. I've already let Loki down by not being there to protect him before, I can't go through losing him again. You've known Bucky all your life, you called him your family. Just like Loki is my family. If I'd been in your situation I probably would've done exactly what you did."  
Steve's eyes widened at Thor before he let out a snort of laughter but Thor knew that wasn't being snide. Steve shuffled closer to Thor so that their sides touched making them slightly warmer.  
"Thor, what happened to Loki, was not your fault. There was nothing you could've done. The same goes for what Thanos did, you couldn't have stopped that, no one could. Besides, Loki's here now right? Bucky's here, everyone's here. And that's all down to you. You stopped Thanos, you avenged so many people. You can't keep beating yourself up, you can't keep blaming yourself for what happened, do you hear me?"  
Thor didn't say anything, he just dropped his gaze to the floor. Steve smirked and bumped his shoulder against Thor's,  
"Come on, where's that smile?"

A genuine smile began to blossom on Thor's face, he held on to steve's hand again squeezing a little tighter.  
"Thank you, Steven." Steve smiled at the use of his full name.  
"You've always been on my side. I'll definitely miss you the most when I leave tomorrow." There was a long silence after that. Thor looked up to see Steve staring at him with a confused expression.  
"You make it sound like I'm never going to see you again." 

It was Thor's turn to chuckle now,  
"Well things are bound to change, Steven. I'm Asgard's king now, I need to help my people rebuild their city and try and move on. Start a new life. You'll remain here, with your friends, where you belong." Thor suddenly became aware of how close they were to eachother. Steve was shaking his head and stuttering like he was fighting a battle with something in his head.  
"...I don't want you to leave." Steve said as if he'd just realised that. Thor's eyes widened at the captain, their faces were only a few inches apart as they stared at eachother. 

Then Steve shuffled backwards a little and breathed out a nervous laugh. He picked up the bottle and pretended to read the label on the front,  
"Man, how much of this stuff have we had, huh?" Thor knew he was bluffing and from his expression, he could tell that Steve knew Thor knew he was bluffing. But Steve was coming closer, so much so that they could feel eachothers breath. Thor gave him a knowing look, like he was going to pull away. Steve breathed heavily, he didn't care, he wanted to say that, he didn't care. Their foreheads were nearly resting against the other, but Thor didn't pull away.  
"Steve, we shouldn't."  
Steve placed his hands on the back of Thor's head, their noses touching,  
"I'm tired of doing the right thing. It's time I started doing what I want for a change." And he took the final push, closing the distance between them.

Thor allowed himself to melt into the kiss for a moment before slowly pulling away,  
"Steven, I believe we've been down this path before." They were both breathing heavily now. Steve leaned back so that their eyes locked,  
"Do you want me to stop?" Thor thought about it, no, no he really didn't want to stop. But he knew that this was something they shouldn't be doing, he was leaving in just a few hours. He was brought back down to earth by the captain leaning in again and Thor quickly made up his mind,  
"No." 

The kiss quickly grew in intensity and Thor gently pushed Steve onto his back and resumed kissing him. Their arms held onto eachother in a tight embrace. It was just like the first night Steve came to Thor in his cabin. A particularly harsh blow of wind reminded the two how cold it was outside and Thor broke the kiss to breathe and pulled himself to his feet and helped Steve stand up too. When they were both standing, Steve pulled Thor into another kiss until Thor pulled back with a smirk and took his hand and began leading them back to his cabin.

They both failed to hold back a laugh when they stumbled through the front door. They nearly both fell down when the door opened behind them and Thor quickly froze and covered steve's mouth. He didn't want to risk Loki hearing them. When the house remained quiet, Thor removed his hand and they both grinned at eachother before Thor kissed him deeply against the wall. When they pulled back they were both breathless but Steve managed to breathe out the words,  
"I missed you."  
Something shined in Thor's eyes from Steve's words and he kissed him passionately once more before taking his hand and leading them to his room.

............................................................................................

Thor woke up to the sunlight peeping through his window and he picked up his head to look around his bedroom. He squinted when he looked at the blinding light outside and dropped back down in bed and pulled the covers over their heads, still rather exhausted. It was probably still early yet, he wouldn't have to get up for a while. Plus the extra warmth curled around his body and the arms circled around his bare torso made him too comfortable to want to move. Thor was pleasantly surprised that Steve had stayed. The first time this happened, Steve was gone by the time Thor woke up. They didn't bring it up again after that, Steve still came to Thor, like nothing had changed in their relationship. That was better than Thor could've asked for. Thor closed his eyes again, intent on getting some more sleep until he had to worry about getting up and ready to leave. He pulled the sleeping captain in closer so that his head was lying in the crook of his neck and drifted off again.

For about thirty seconds. 

When someone banged on his door, Thor's eyes flew open. The loud sound of the door making him jump and causing Steve to stir next to him.  
"Thor? It's almost noon! We're leaving in an hour! Get up you lazy oaf!" Shit, it was Loki! Thor squinted again trying to get his eyes to work but he really just couldn't bring himself to be bothered. He looked up at the door and mumbled a sleepy,  
"Alright." Before lying back down again and carding his fingers through steve's hair. He could feel himself falling asleep again. It was fine, just a few more minutes...

The door flew open. Loki stormed into his room and threw open the curtains and Thor squinted but didn't stop stroking Steve's hair.  
"Thor, you need to get up! We need to get ready to go! I just got off the phone with Brunhilde and she sent the ship off to get us an hour ago, wake up!" When Thor merely grunted in response, Loki growled and moved to the side of the bed where Thor was and threw back the covers. He really wasn't prepared for what he saw next. 

Thor was lying on his side, as naked as the day he was born. With Captain America cuddled next to him like a large cat. Loki's eyes almost popped out of his head, any words he had to say died on his tongue. His brother and the Captain? How long had that been going on for? Thor didn't seem fazed in the slightest, his back was to Loki, much to his relief, but he didn't seem at all bothered. Thor let out a loud yawn before saying over his shoulder,  
"Brother, could you give us the blanket back by any chance, it's freezing." Loki just balked before dropping the covers and quickly stalking out the room, even though he'd already seen too much. 

There had been too much noise for Thor to even try and go back to sleep now. He woke up properly, rubbing his eyes and yawning again. He gave Steve a shake next to him and the captain's eyes snapped open wide awake. The two looked at eachother for a second before both bursting into laughter at what had just happened before Steve was pulling Thor into a kiss. It felt good to laugh again. Thor was glad that Steve wasn't fretting over the fact that Loki saw them. It wasn't like Loki was going to tell anyone, in an hour, he'll have probably forgotten all about it.

A few minutes later, Thor had dressed himself in the clothes he was wearing the night before, minus the cloak, and Steve was wearing borrowed clothes. Thor made his bed and tried to make the room look as tidy as possible before he left it for the last time. They left the room arm around the other. Steve would slip out of the cabin like he'd never even been there.

What neither of them expected to happen was for them to walk into a sitting room full of Avengers. 

They stopped dead at the end of the hall and every eye in the room landed on them. Loki looked beyond amused at the two. Bucky smirked and gave his friend a thumbs up. Banner's brow rose up in shock but a smile was playing on his face. Thor did notice Clint grumble as he passed Natasha a bill which she slipped into her pocket with a smirk. Of course she knew, the woman knew everything. There was a tense silence in the room. 

"Busted." Bucky muttered smartly and Steve gave his friend a death glare. Loki and Bucky were enjoying this far too much. The silence that followed was incredibly awkward until Steve chuckled nervously before picking up his shoes from the floor and walking through the room full of people to the front door,  
"It's..i-it's not what it looks like..." He didn't look at any of them as he passed through them even though he could feel all eyes on him. And he quickly exited the cabin. 

Then everyone turned to Thor and the god didn't think he could turn more red. He wanted to punch that smug look right off Loki's face, he wanted everyone to stop staring at him. He could feel the embarrassment rising, as well as a little anger. He was honestly just glad that Stark hadn't caught them, everyone else in his cabin knew better than to go blabbing. If Stark found out, he'd never hear the end of it.

"So I see you two had a great night." Bucky said, still smirking and when Thor glared at him he raised his hands in mock surrender,  
"Hey, not judging you man, just saying. Steve could do a lot worse." He was still smirking and Loki looked on the edge of bursting into laughter.  
"They came to say goodbye, brother. Brunhilde just called me, the ship should be here any time now." Loki said and Bucky did laugh then before leaving after his blushing best friend. Thor and Steve had a strange feeling that his brother and the winter soldier would get along. 

"We'll..just wait out here for you." Natasha said and practically had to shove Clint out the door because he couldn't stop staring. Banner and Loki were all who remained and Banner was giving Thor a knowing look.  
"So when did this happen?" Thor face palmed with a groan and Loki's grin was almost reaching his ears.  
"Umm..W-we're not..I'm not.." Thor stuttered and Bruce was smiling now as well to show that he was just trying to rile him up.  
"Relax man, I'm not gonna tell anyone. Honestly, I had a feeling that something was going on when Steve kept staying with you." Thor didn't respond so Banner decided to leave him be and followed Natasha and Clint.

Loki's eyes bored into Thor like he had a lot of questions, that Thor probably wouldn't want to answer. So he turned and walked back to his room, closing the door behind hI'm before Loki had the chance to say anything. He sat back down on his bed and stared out the window.

Thor didn't come out for a long time.

Loki came knocking on his door again a while later, Thor snapped out of his thoughts but he didn't move from his place on the bed. He grunted in acknowledgment and Loki spoke through the door,  
"Thor, our ship has arrived..are you ready to go?" Loki pressed his ear against the door to try and hear a response from his brother. When he got no reply, he felt a little concerned that Thor had possibly had an episode or fallen back asleep again. But he nearly fell forward when Thor came and opened the door instead. Loki looked his brother up and down, he was dressed in his armour, much to his surprise.  
"Yes, I'm ready." Loki's brow furrowed at the look on Thor's face.  
"Brother, did you take the pills that Banner gave you?" Thor dipped his head once after a much too long silence. Loki huffed.

"Thor? did you have another panic attack?" Thor immediately shook his head. Loki was far from convinced but there was no point in forcing the truth out of him. Instead Loki plastered on his best smile and held out his hand to Thor,  
"Well then brother, let's go home, shall we?" He felt a sense of relief that Thor returned his smile then and took his brother's hand. Home. They were finally going home. 

They were met outside by the original team. Thor felt a little anxious that all exept for Stark out of the six of them knew what had happened this morning. But he relaxed when Banner hugged Thor around his large shoulders. He would be seeing the scientist again soon. When everything in Wakanda was resolved then Banner would be moving down to Norway with them. Hulk seemed to approve of the Asgardians as they accepted him so easily after he helped to save them from Ragnarok. They'd been happy to see one of their saviours when they arrived in Wakanda with Valkyrie. Thor had made the offer to come with them that night.

Banner released Thor and Natasha hugged him next and lightly kissed his cheek. Stark came over and hugged him as well and Thor was immensely surprised when Stark held his hand out to shake Loki's. If Loki was shocked as well then he didn't show it. He accepted the handshake and Stark actually smiled at him. 

Steve was the last one to step forward and the rest of the team, save for Tony, smiled at the pairs awkward exchange. Eventually, Steve dived into Thor's arms in a fierce embrace which Thor melted into, lifting Steve off the ground slightly. Bucky and Loki looked at eachother and smirked, they had a feeling that they would be seeing eachother again soon. When Thor and Steve finally released eachother, Steve held onto Thor's shoulders with his signature smirk,  
"Me and Buck will stop by soon to see how you're both doing." Thor broke into a grin and clasped the captain's shoulder.  
"I'll hold you to that captain." 

Loki and Thor turned away from their friends to where the ship had landed in the middle of the grassy feild, Korg was in the pilot's seat and he gave the two gods a friendly wave before opening the doors for them. Thor looked at his brother,  
"Shall we?" Loki blinked at Thor before nodding to him and smiling slightly,  
"Let's go home."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end!! Really this is the end now. There is another story up, kind of a sequel. Go and check that out if you want to see more :) until next time <3

**Author's Note:**

> Happy ending. Kind of.. can i just say, Rocket and stark are such fun characters to include in this, sorry if the characters seemed a bit Ooc, anyway hope you liked, C ya soon <3


End file.
